Contents

Plot

At the Battle Pyramid, Emerald continues on his trek through the pitch-black maze. Time has passed since the night he started, and although now on the third set, it is now daybreak. A Houndoom attacks, but Emerald counters with his Phanpy's Earthquake, defeating it. Upon defeating the Houndoom, Emerald approaches the door, finally completing the third set in the process. The reporter congratulates Emerald on his victory, but points out how grueling the Battle Pyramid can be.

On the next set, Emerald is startled by a wild Misdreavus, which he defeats with Shedinja's Shadow Ball. Emerald and the reporter point out how scary the place can be, which makes it perfect for a test of bravery. Brandon points out how the pyramids were designed to keep intruders and thieves out with traps, which is how the Battle Pyramid is designed as well. Brandon states that the place is designed to question's ones bravery while also rewarding them for being able to conquer it. The room Emerald is in gets a little brighter, which he guesses is because he defeated a wild Pokémon.

The reporter expresses shock to see how Brandon is willing to play fair despite all the humiliation Emerald has brought upon him. However, the reporter also points out that despite Brandon wanting the battle to be fair, Emerald will still have to face the legendary Pokémon he has in his possession: Regirock, Regice, and Registeel.

Back inside the Pyramid, Emerald is forced to run away from a wild Gengar with Alakazam's Teleport. Emerald reveals that although he wanted to use Shadow Ball, the Misdreavus he defeated earlier used Grudge to prevent Shedinja from using it again. Emerald reveals that in earlier sets, the Pokémon attempted to paralyze, poison, and burn his team, meaning that the current set is attempting to prevent him from using moves. Although the reporter claims that the Battle Pyramid is too tough, Emerald tells him not to worry.

Phanpy arrives with several items in its mouth thanks to its Pickup Ability, one of which being an Ether. Emerald points out that since he's allowed to pick up any dropped items and store them in his Battle Bag. The reporter realizes that Emerald picked Phanpy for item gathering, Alakazam for escaping battles, and Shedinja for energy conservation, as it only has one Hit point, making there no need to heal it. The reporter praises Emerald's ability to pick the perfect Pokémon for any situation and believes that he can conquer the Battle Frontier. Suddenly, Spenser appears and claims that Emerald might be disqualified from the challenge altogether. He apologizes to the reporter for interrupting him, but states that he will have to come with him.

The reporter is taken to the Battle Factory, where Anabel, Tucker, Lucy, and Greta loom over an unconscious Noland. They reveal that some had knocked Noland out and stole all of the rental Pokémon. When the reporter asks who could have done such a thing, the Frontier Brains gather around him, causing him to guess that they think it was Emerald. The reporter points out how Emerald was at the Battle Pike all day, but Greta counters by stating that he's the only known outsider who doesn't have any Pokémon on hand.

The Frontier Brains and reporter get into an argument, but Anabel tells them to be silent. Anabel reveals that Scott has left her with some instructions on what to do. First, the demonstration will go on as planned, as it will cause chaos when they have to explain everything to the press, as well as giving the criminal a chance to attack again. The second instruction is that all Frontier Brains must work together to capture criminal before the Battle Frontier is officially open to the public.

Tucker tells the reporter to tell Emerald that he doesn't trust him and tosses him out of the room. The reporter wonders how Emerald is doing and Lucy reveals that he has already made it to the final floor of the tenth set. On the top of the Battle Pyramid, Brandon greets Emerald with his three Pokémon standing behind him. Brandon praises Emerald's skill, as well as being shocked at the number of items he gathered along the way. Emerald states that although he is scared to face Brandon's powerful team, he will still win the battle, no matter what.

They start their battle, and Brandon sends out Regirock to use Superpower. To counter this, Emerald sends out Sceptile, which surprises Brandon. As Sceptile holds Regirock's arm in place, Emerald has it use Leech Seed to sap away its health. Brandon claims that cheap moves will not work on him and that all he needs to do is knock out Emerald's Sceptile in one attack. With that, he commands Regirock to blow itself up with a powerful Explosion.